This time line traces the history of these invasive species in the United States from their introduction in the 1970s to today's battle to keep them from invading the Great Lakes. Created by WVIZ/PBS ideastream for "LSI: Life Science Investigation- Attack of the Alien Invaders" www.wviz.org/lsi a multimedia resource for middle school science classrooms.
Created by tmotter on Feb 7, 2011
Last updated: 05/02/11 at 12:29 PM
Tags: asian carp Asian Carp Asian carp invasive species bighead carp silver carp great lakes lake erie attack of the alien invaders LSI Mississippi River Chicago Shipping and Sanitary Canal environment ecology life sceince Ohio Michigan Illinois Wisconsin New York Chicago
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A commercial fisherman caught a 27-pound bighead carp just north of the St. Croix River's confluence with the Mississippi and contacted the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2011/04/22/Asian-carp-found-at-Wisconsin-border/UPI-26601303501039/
On April 7, 2011, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers activated electric fish Barrier IIB on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal (CSSC) near Romeoville, Ill.
http://asiancarp.org/news/u-s-army-corps-of-engineers-activates-new-fish-barrier-iib/
Research used to detect Asian carp eDNA (environmental DNA) beyond the electric barrier in the Chicago Canal was reviewed and published by a four-member team of scientists. In the September, 2010 Federal Court case seeking to immediately close the Chicago Canal locks, David Lodge (leader of the eDNA researchers) testified using his findings during a hearing before Judge Robert Dow. During the trial, critics had attacked Lodge’s eDNA method, noting it hadn't been published in a peer-reviewed journal – a criticism Federal Judge Robert Dow Jr. echoed in his Dec. 2 ruling.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/05/scientists-defend-asian-c_n_804759.html
Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox (joined by 5 other Great Lakes states) announced his office filed a notice of appeal of the December 2, 2010 ruling that denied Michigan's motion for preliminary injunction. from the first preliminary court ruling in his lawsuit to stop the advance of Asian carp into the Great Lakes. Attorneys general from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio and Pennsylvania signed on to Michigan's notice which is appealing the December 2, 2010 ruling that denied Michigan's motion for preliminary injunction.
The 2011 Asian Carp Control Strategy Framework adds 13 new initiatives to the comprehensive effort to combat Asian carp, including expanding eDNA testing capacity and developing cutting-edge biological controls and monitoring technology, among other measures.
The original Framework, created in February 2010 and updated in May, established the Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee (ACRCC), consisting of state and municipal agencies, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Coast Guard to synchronize the response to Asian carp.
http://asiancarp.org/news/2011-asian-carp-control-strategy-framework-released/
The United States Army Corps of Engineers held its first in a series of 12 scoping meetings for citizens and organizations concerned about invasive species or aquatic nuisance species (ANS) entering the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins.
http://glmris.anl.gov/involve/pubschedule/index.cfm
The Asian Carp Prevention and Control Act added the bighead carp species of Asian carp to a list of injurious species that are prohibited from being imported or shipped in the United States under the Lacey Act. The Senate approved the bill in November. Levin introduced the bipartisan bill in July 2009 with Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio. Levin and Voinovich co-chair the Senate Great Lakes Task Force. Listing the bighead species of Asian carp under the Lacey Act will help prevent the intentional introduction of the species by prohibiting the interstate transportation or importation of live Asian carp without a permit
http://www.oceanleadership.org/2010/congress-passes-levin%E2%80%99s-asian-carp-prevention-and-control-act/
A federal judge in northern Illinois ruled today that the five states who sued to slam the locks shut had not shown any immediate harm, and refused to issue an injunction closing the locks. Judge Robert B. Dow Jr. said Michigan and the other attorney generals had not made a convincing case that existing electric barriers have failed or that there are significant numbers of the voracious fish above the electric barriers.
http://www.cleveland.com/nation/index.ssf/2009/12/fears_mount_over_giant_carp_re.html
Construction of a 1,200 ft long 8 ft high fence in Eagle Marsh (south east of Ft. Wayne, Indiana) to prevent Asian carp from getting into Lake Erie from the Wabash River into the Maumee River. In addition to knocking on the door of Lake Michigan, Asian carp are also advancing up the Wabash River system which could allow for their potential movement into the Maumee River, a tributary to Lake Erie. Under normal conditions, there is no direct link between the Wabash River and the Maumee River. However, tributaries and drainage ditches near Eagle Marsh, a 705-acre restored wetland on the southwest side of Fort Wayne, Indiana, provide a potential connection under certain flooding conditions.
http://asiancarp.org/news/carp-fence-in-indiana-complete/
John Gross appointed chairman of the Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee. The “Carp Czar” reports to an office in the White House and oversees the government-led effort to eradicate the species. Gross, a former head of Indiana's National Wildlife Federation office, will help steer the government's $78.5 million effort to combat the dangerous fish.
http://www.cleveland.com/outdoors/index.ssf/2010/09/new_carp_czar_comes_to_catawba.html
Hearings used expert testimony on behalf of Ohio and four other Great Lakes states in Federal Court to shut down the Chicago Locks – They sued to shut down the locks and install permanent barriers to stop the fish from entering the Great Lakes.
http://archive.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/10/asian-carp-environment-legal-fight-.html
Despite being rebuffed twice by the U.S. Supreme Court, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota and Pennsylvania filed suit with a lower court demanding tougher federal and municipal action to prevent Asian carp from overrunning the Great Lakes and decimating their fishing industry.
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wirestory?id=11197706&page=1
The Permanent Prevention of Asian Carp Act will require the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to conduct and expedite a study detailing engineering options in order to determine the best way to permanently separate the Mississippi River Basin from Lake Michigan.
http://camp.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=192994
A commercial fisherman patrolling the calm waters of Lake Calumet netted a 19-pound Asian carp, the first physical discovery of the feared invasive species in the Chicago waterway system north of the electric barriers.
http://archive.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/06/officials-asian-carp-found-in-chicago-waterway-system.html
Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox files a new Supreme Court motion to block carp from entering the Great Lakes, claiming that Illinois’ estimates of $190 million in annual damages from Chicago lock closures are “seriously exaggerated.”
Michigan’s Senator Stabenow and Congressman Camp Announce CARP ACT in Senate. The CARP ACT (Close All Routes and Prevent Asian Carp Today). The bill would direct the Army Corps of Engineers to take immediate action to prevent the potential entry of Asian Carp into the Great Lakes.
http://www.stopasiancarp.com/carpact.html
While carp migrate within a few miles of the Great Lakes, Michigan’s Attorney General Michael Cox files his first lawsuit that demands canal and lock closures between Illinois and Lake Michigan.
From summer 2009 through May 2010, scientists from Notre Dame and The Nature Conservancy collected and analyzed more than 1,000 two-liter samples of water from the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, and other water bodies in the metropolitan area. Then, using a combination of high tech genetic tools, they sifted those samples to find traces of eDNA from Asian carp.
http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/greatlakes/science/art32962.html
Barrier IIA was completed in May 2006. Due to safety concerns the barrier sat idle for nearly three years not operating full time until April 2009.
http://www.lrc.usace.army.mil/AsianCarp/BarriersFactSheet.pdf
Bighead carp found 50 miles downstream from Lake Michigan.
http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/SpecimenViewer.aspx?SpecimenID=167677
Demonstration ANS (Aquatic Nuisance Species) electrical dispersal barrier in Chicago Shipping and Sanitary Canal.
http://www.lrc.usace.army.mil/AsianCarp/BarriersFactSheet.pdf
One live Bighead carp was found in Lake Erie near Sandusky off Cedar Point in 1995. Another was discovered in 2000 in Sandusky Bay. Both were considered isolated occurrences and not from a reproducing population.
After sever flooding of the Mississippi River, Asian carp species (bighead and silver) escape from aquaculture ponds.
http://www.glfc.org/fishmgmt/carp.php
Arkansas Game and Fish, working with a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), use silver and bighead carp in sewage treatment experiment.
Arkansas Game and Fish Commission stocks 380,000 grass Asian carp in state waters, and eventually opens the breeding program to bighead, black, silver carp.
Bighead, silver and black carp from Taiwan are first introduced into the U.S. by an Arkansas fish farmer looking to use his own stock of grass carp as a weed control agent.
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